


A Beginner's Guide to Adopting a Jackalope

by predilection



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers R.P.M.
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 15:37:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9189920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/predilection/pseuds/predilection
Summary: Scott returns from a surveillance mission in the Wastes to find a jackalope living in the Garage.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Guardian_of_Hope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_of_Hope/gifts).



> My fic for Alpha's Magical Fic Exchange 2016. This was written for Guardian_of_Hope who requested: _The Garage gets a new mascot, and nobody knows why. Basically, a random animal is living in the Garage, nobody knows who owns it or why it's there. During Venjix's war, fluff, pairings as you see fit._ The second I saw this prompt I knew I had to write it. I hope you like what I've come up with, even though it's probably sillier than what you wanted.
> 
> The random animal I selected for this story is the jackalope. Jackalopes are a popular mythical North American creature. They get their name from jackrabbits and antelopes even though they're usually hares with deer antlers.
> 
> Shoutout to muse_in_denial for helping me brainstorm ideas for this fic and for suggesting I write about a jackalope in the first place.

When Scott returns to the Garage after a three day surveillance mission in the Wastes, he's starving and exhausted, so he decides to get something to eat before making his way to bed.

He finds a pre-made sandwich in the fridge and puts it on a plate on the table. Then he goes over to the sink to pour himself a glass of water. When he turns back to his sandwich, glass in hand and intent on actually enjoying his meal, there is, of all things, a jackalope next to his plate, munching on the lettuce sticking out from the side of his sandwich.

For a moment, Scott just stares at it, bewildered for many reasons.

First, they're Waste beasts -- mutants that appeared around the same time as Venjix that no one knows the origin of. They're pretty tame as far as Waste beasts are concerned, but there has been a concerted effort to keep them out of Corinth.

Second, somehow this jackalope has gotten into the Garage, despite their state-of-the-art security system that has been upgraded by not only Dr. K but also by Gem and Gemma.

Third, it's eating his food, and in the time it's taken Scott to process the presence of the jackalope, it's already consumed a third of his sandwich.

Scott pinches the bridge of his nose, frustrated, wanting to eat something and crash, not deal with a pest in the Garage, when Flynn comes into the kitchen in his pyjamas in search of breakfast.

"Welcome back, mate," he says when he spots Scott. "How was the mission?"

Scott shakes his head to clear it. "Fine," he replies and then gestures towards the jackalope on their kitchen table. "So, uh..."

Before Scott can ask the question, Flynn looks at the jackalope and says, smiling, "Oh, you mean Betsy."

"Betsy?" 

"Aye, Betsy," Flynn says, pouring himself a bowl of cereal like there isn't a Waste beast in the room with them. He grabs a spoon and then sits down at the place setting next to Scott's and digs into his breakfast. "She showed up two days ago. Ziggy's been trying to keep her hidden from Dr. K. He thinks she'll toss her out if she discovers him."

Scott sighs. He wouldn't be surprised if it was Ziggy who brought the creature inside the Garage in the first place. "It's a Waste beast. It doesn't belong in here."

To Scott surprise, Flynn raises his spoon towards Scott like he's brandishing a weapon. "I'll have you know than we've all taken a liking to Betsy," he says defensively. Then he proceeds to use the hand not holding the spoon to stroke the jackalope's back. It makes a cooing noise and then, having finished the first half of Scott's sandwich, starts in on consuming the second half.

For a moment, Scott doesn't move. He just takes in the scene in front of him. He quickly decides that the jackalope is too much for him to deal with right now. He goes back over to the fridge and pulls out another sandwich. Then, sandwich and glass of water in his hands, he walks out of the kitchen and towards his room, hoping the jackalope will make more sense after he's eaten and gotten at least eight hours of rest.

*

It doesn't.

When he next makes it back downstairs, Ziggy is sitting in the middle of the floor between the stairs and the workstations with the jackalope standing on its hind legs in front of him. 

"Come on, BunBun, you can do it!" he says to the jackalope while holding up what looks like a tiny hula-hoop in front of it.

Scott watches Ziggy shout more encouragements at the jackalope including, "I believe in you!", "I know you have it in you!" and "Please, BunBun, do it for the Zigster!" before Scott asks, "Ziggy, what are you even doing?"

"Oh, hey, Scott. Welcome back," Ziggy says, glancing up at him before returning his attention to the jackalope. "I was just trying to teach BunBun some tricks. She's already learned to sit and stand, so I was hoping to try something more exciting."

Scott should be used to this kind of ridiculousness from his team, but this still surprises him so he asks, "You're trying to teach a jackalope how to jump through a tiny hoop?"

"Yep! And I know she can do it too! Isn't that right, BunBun?" He bops the hoop up and down in front of the jackalope to regain its wandering attention.

Confused and disconcerted, Scott continues to watch Ziggy's failing attempts to train the jackalope for another two minutes before he gives up on trying to understand Ziggy and walks away.

*

The next time Scott encounters the jackalope is when he goes to check on his car. 

Next to his car, Dillon is lying on his back on a mechanic's creeper working on the underside of his own car. From the ribcage up, Dillon is hidden under the engine, but the rest of him is exposed and the jackalope is curled up and sleeping on his stomach.

If his previous two encounters with the jackalope were strange, this one takes the cake. Dillon is not in any way, shape or form the kind of person Scott associates with fuzzy creatures, and he definitely isn't the kind of person who lets fuzzy creatures nap on him while he's working.

"Uh, Dillon?" Scott asks.

"What?" 

"Why do you have a jackalope on you?"

Dillon rolls himself out from under his car just enough to glare at Scott. "Do you have a problem with Matilda?" he asks.

"Matilda?" Did everyone have different names for the jackalope? 

"Yeah, do you have a problem with her?" Dillon challenges, still glaring at Scott.

"Uh, not exactly--" Scott starts.

"Good. Let's make sure it stays that way," Dillon says, cutting him off and not giving him a chance to argue otherwise. 

Dillon apparently decides their conversation is over because he rolls himself back under his car, and as Scott tries to figure what just happened, the jackalope shifts in its sleep, making itself more comfortable.

*

The next morning, Scott wakes to the sound of something exploding followed by two familiar voices excitedly shouting "BOOM!" in unison. Scott sighs and drags himself out of bed.

Downstairs, he finds Gem and Gemma at their workstation crowded around what he figures is their newest project, but as he gets closer, he realizes that they're actually crowded around the jackalope.

"Do I even want to know what you're doing?" Scott asks, wondering about the creature's safety.

They turn towards him at the same time.

Gem says, "Oh hey--" 

"--Scott," Gemma finishes for her brother.

"We were just testing --"

"--a new safety device we made for Miss. Ferret."

Scott raises an eyebrow but otherwise doesn't bother commenting on the name. He already knows what they're referring to. "You built a safety device for the jackalope?"

Gem says excitedly, "Yeah! We're going--" 

"--to keep Miss. Ferret safe!" Gemma continues equally excited.

Before Scott can ask them what they built, Gem turns and lifts a fabric collar off their workstation. It's primarily bright pink and green, but it had glaring spots of other bright colors on it as well. Gem bends down and fits the collar around the jackalope's neck. The very front of it glows red like it has an LED embedded in it.

They both grin. "It works--"

"--like this!"

To Scott's horror, Gem pulls a blaster out from under the workbench and takes two steps back so he can aim it at the jackalope.

"What are you doing!?" Scott demands, knocking the blaster downwards so it points at the floor.

"Testing!" Gemma replies cheerfully, and throws what looks like a marble at the jackalope before Scott has a chance to stop her.

The second the marble touches the jackalope, it explodes into a ball of fire. Scott has to close his eyes to shield himself from the sudden brightness, but even then, he's still moving towards the fire extinguisher. He's surprised when the fire snuffs itself out a moment later, revealing the jackalope sitting unharmed inside a small spherical force field.

"Yay! Version two test number five--"

"--was a total success!"

Scott closes the space between himself and the twins so he can be sure they can see just how angry he is. "What are you thinking? You just tested your device on a live creature!" 

"Psssht," Gem says, waving a dismissive hand at him. "We figured out how to protect Miss. Ferret way back--"

"--in version one of our safety device!" Gemma says. "See for yourself!" 

She points at something at the far side of their workstation. It's black and the shape is familiar, but Scott has to get closer to it to make out exactly what it is. Even up close, it takes Scott a moment to realize that he's looking at a tiny jackalope-sized bulletproof vest.

For a moment Scott can only blink at it, but then he rubs a hand over his eyes. He feels the anger drain out of his body as he mutters sarcastically to himself, "Of course. What else would you make to protect a jackalope?" 

*

When he sees Summer walk in the door that afternoon, he sighs in relief.

"You okay?" she asks after getting a good look at him.

He runs a hand through his hair. "I'm fine. I just wanted to talk to you. This is going to sound ridiculous but since I got back everyone's been going gaga over..."

Scott trails off when he notices that Summer's holding a cat carrier. Scott bends down so he can see what's inside of it even though he's sure he already knows. Sure enough, lying on a towel inside the carrier is the jackalope.

"You're obsessed with the jackalope too?" he asks her in disbelief.

"I wouldn't say 'obsessed'," she tells him, and then lifts the carrier higher so she can smile at the jackalope through the bars in the door. "I just think Crystal is really cute. And everyone's been happier since she showed up."

"Crystal?" Scott asks, and surprisingly, Summer actually answers.

"She doesn't have an official name yet, so we all call her whatever we want."

Scott replays what Summer had said about everyone being happier in his head. "Wait. Didn't the jackalope show up while I was away?"

Summer smiles. "And in just that short amount of time, she's charmed her way into all of our hearts. Except for Dr. K, of course. We're still working on a way to tell her about Crystal that'll win her over." 

Summer puts the cat-carrier down on the ground and opens its door. They both watch as the jackalope hops out of it and makes its way across the Garage.

"Where did you take the jackalope anyway?" Scott asks.

"The vet," Summer replies. "She's in good health and has officially gotten all of her shots."

Shocked, Scott turns to stare at Summer. He hasn't forgotten that jackalopes aren't technically allowed in Corinth. "The vet actually _helped_ you?"

Summer laughs, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Of course. After I explained that she's the Power Rangers' new mascot, the vet was happy to help!"

*

Scott sees the jackalope in various places over the next few days, and he's indifferent to its presence until he finds it curled up and sleeping on the hood of his car.

"No," he tells it, crossing his arms across his chest. "You can hang out anywhere else in the Garage but here."

The jackalope lifts its head to stare at him. Its bright brown eyes are piercing and adorable, and while Scott admits that he's slowly warming to the creature, this is one thing he won't budge on. "You're cute, but you still need to get off my car."

He's not sure how much the jackalope understands, but it gets to its feet and hops down the hood of his car to the ground. Then it hops over to where Scott is standing, gets up on its hind legs, and looks up at Scott with the same big brown eyes. 

"You should know that that won't work on me," Scott says sternly.

It looks up at him some more before it hops over to Dillon's car. When it reaches the front wheel on the driver's side, it turns its head back towards Scott as if to make sure he's still watching. Then it proceeds to urinate on Dillon's tire.

It shocks a laugh out of Scott, and when Scott realizes that the jackalope Dillon likes so much is willingly messing up Dillon's car, he starts laughing harder. By the time he's done laughing, his arms are no longer crossed but relaxed at his sides and he's smiling more than he has in weeks.

When the jackalope hops back over to him, Scott crouches so he can pat it on the head. "Okay," he tells it. "You can stay."

*

They all know it's a matter of time before Dr. K discovers the jackalope, but it's still a surprise when it happens.

They're all standing around a workstation, looking at the tiny lights that Summer, of all people, has decided to string across the jackalope's antlers, when from behind them Dr. K suddenly asks loudly, "Just what are you all doing?"

Scott turns to her, and puts himself between her and the jackalope in the hopes of hiding it from view. He notices that around him, the other rangers are doing the same. "Hello, doc," Scott says. "Can we help you with something?"

She has her hands on her hips. "What are you hiding?"

"What's it to you?" Dillon asks, crossing his arms.

She narrows her eyes at him. "It matters to me because your safety is directly related to your performance as ranger series operators, and for the past week, every single one of you has been acting like you're hiding something potentially dangerous."

"Us? Hiding something?" Ziggy asks. Scott can tell that he's trying to sound dismissive but if anything, he ends up sounding suspicious.

Dr. K turns her glare on him and starts walking in his direction. "What are you hiding?" she asks again, louder this time.

Summer gets between her and Ziggy. "Calm down. We'll tell you, okay?"

"We--"

"--will?" Gem and Gemma ask.

"We will," Summer repeats, "but you have to promise that you won't throw her out."

"Her?" Dr. K asks, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'her'?"

As if on cue, Flynn steps out from behind them all holding the jackalope, complete with little twinkling lights, in his arms. The determined look on his face tells Scott that he's ready to run off with the jackalope if things turn ugly, but Dr. K just blinks at it.

"Please let us keep her!" Ziggy says, clasping his hands together. "Pleeeeeease!"

Dr. K slowly turns her gaze to Ziggy, and then she takes a moment to look at each and every one of them and study each of their expressions. When she finally turns to Scott, he can almost see the gears spinning in her head.

"You're trying to protect the jackalope from me," she says and it sounds like a question. "You think I'm going to tell you to dump it back in the Wastes."

Gem and Gemma's twin gulps are audible.

"Aye, that's exactly what we think," Flynn says, his hands tightening on the jackalope.

Dr. K shakes her head and rolls her eyes. She marches over to Flynn and bends at the waist until she's at eye-level with the jackalope. Then to Scott's utter surprise, she asks it, "What have they done to you, Mittens?"

"Mittens? Really?" Ziggy asks before Scott can. "Wait. You _know_ about the jackalope?"

Dr. K snorts. "Know about her? I'm the one who brought her here in the first place."

Scott feels his jaw fall open. He looks around and notices that everyone else seems just as stunned as he does.

"You did?" Scott asks.

Dr. K uses her index finger to scratch under the jackalope's chin and it coos happily at her touch. "A defense squad found her while patrolling one of the areas Venjix recently breached. When I found out, I asked to have a look at her."

"You're the one who brought her here?" Dillon asks in disbelief. "I thought that was Ziggy."

Flynn, Summer, Gem and Gemma are all nodding. "I also thought it was Ziggy," Flynn admits.

"Well, it wasn't," Dr. K says, opening her arms for the jackalope. 

"You don't have any negative intentions towards her, do you?" Flynn asks.

Dr. K offers him one her best unimpressed looks and, hesitantly, Flynn hands the jackalope over to her. She takes it from him easily, supporting its weight with one hand and stroking its back with the other.

Scott watches her, still in shock, as she says, "Oh, Mittens. I'll get these awful lights off of you." But when she reaches for the string of lights, the jackalope shifts in her arms, pulling its head away from her hand. She reaches for the lights a second time, and again the jackalope avoids her. "You can't be serious," she tells it. "You actually like the lights?"

"Wait a second," Ziggy says. "Before we get into the issue of the lights, we have a more pertinent matter."

"Yeah," Gem says. "Does this mean--"

"--Miss. Ferret gets to stay?" Gemma asks hopefully.

Dr. K's head snaps up. "Her name is Mittens!"

Gem and Gemma take a step back and Ziggy raises his hands in surrender. 

"Okay, but if we call her Mittens or whatever, do we get to keep her?" Dillon asks.

As they wait for Dr. K's answer, Scott becomes aware that he can hear the blood pounding in his ears. Slowly, over the past few days, the jackalope has wormed its way into his heart. He has gone from despising it, to not caring about it, to being completely invested in whether or not Dr. K is going to allow it to stay. Not only that, he's fully prepared to defend it or help keep it hidden if Dr. K happens to decide she wants to get rid of it.

Dr. K clutches the jackalope to her chest and answers, "Of course we're going to keep her!"

Scott sighs in relief at the same time Gem and Gemma let out identical whoops of joy.

"We get to keep BunBun!" Ziggy shouts rushing over to Dr. K and the jackalope.

"Mittens!" Dr. K yells at him, but he's too happy to care, grinning at her and then petting the jackalope behind its ears.

Scott looks over at Summer, who catches his eye and smiles at him, and it's only then that Scott realizes that he's smiling too.

*

A month later, they officially make the jackalope their mascot. Much to Scott's confusion, every single one of the rangers volunteers to accompany Dr. K when she goes to inform his dad about their decision.

"Okay, I'll come too," he says when Summer tugs at his arm. "But why are we all voluntarily visiting my dad at work?"

"To see his face when he finds out, of course," Flynn tells him.

Scott doesn't get it until his dad looks up from the paperwork on his desk and says, "Let me get this straight. You made your _illegal_ jackalope named _Mittens_ your _official mascot_?" He looks harried and incredulous, like he can't quite fathom that those words just came out of his mouth, and when all of them but Dr. K burst out laughing, Scott finally understands why they made this a team field trip.


End file.
